Planning a family holiday in the UK.
We are two (adult?...) parents and three girls aged 16, 5, and 2.5 y.
Duration considered is two weeks.
Arrival date: last days of September 2003 or first days of October
2003.
Budget is no more than GBP250/week
Seems that we need a three bedroom flat but can consider two provided
large.
We are prepared to be up to an hour's train ride from London.
There is a lot of information on the web and we need the expertise to
get to the relevant sites.
Request direct contact with landlord - prefer not to pay any
commissions.
P.S. Is this a reasonable question?

I think that you are being rather optimistic with respect to price. 
Also, if you're going for three bedrooms, you will more likely find
this in a cottage than in a flat.  Perhaps someone will be able to
find something in your range, however, a quick look at possibles in
Hertfordshire came up with weekly rentals of £400-500/week. I'm
wondering if a house swap might be a more feasible solution.

I had a quick look at www.hoseasons.co.uk and a 3-bed cottage in Essex
(The Piggeries) was about GBP400 at that time of year, not dropping in
price until late October.

Owain

As far as I've seen www.TravelStay.com appears to have a large range
of budget hotels and apartments in London. They also have self
catering summer lets in   London based University accommodation -
which appear to be cheap. With TravelStay you also only pay a deposit
online before you arrive, I haven't seen this form of payment anywhere
else.

Other software you could try could include http://www.travelaxe.net/
which find deals across the major hotel consolidator sites.

You don't want to be too far outside London as public transport
espcialy British Rail trains are unreliable and stop running around
midnight on some lines.

How about free accommodation?
at http://www.place2stay.net we have members from many countries
(quite a few from the UK) that offer free accommodation.
It's very different from home exchanges in that members do not need to
offer equivelant accommodation or to their host. Everyone offers what
they can (even if it's just guidance or tips).
There are no fees involved at all, so check it out...

Dan Rose